$2M Card-Skimming Scheme Stretched From Georgia To New York To California

January 21, 2014 3:24 PM

NEW YORK (AP) – Prosecutors say a theft ring planted devices on gas pumps to copy credit and bank card numbers and used the data to steal more than $2 million in a scheme that hopscotched from the Southeast to New York City to California.

Four suspects pleaded not guilty to money laundering and other charges Tuesday in Manhattan. Nine others were being arrested. A lawyer for accused ringleader Davit Kudugulyan declined to comment.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. says the group somehow installed devices that captured card and PINs inside pumps at gas stations in Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.

Prosecutors say the scammers then forged new cards, withdrew cash from Manhattan ATMS, deposited it in bank accounts, and withdrew it again from banks in California and Nevada.